Culture and
University
Life
Articles and resources
Under the headings below we offer a variety of texts, which will help you think, as they pose important questions that demand personal, serene, and positive answers. The selection of texts can be a useful aid to begin and to carry out your personal reflection.
Ética de la investigación: la interdisciplinariedad
La búsqueda de la verdad no es una tarea privada o que pueda ser llevada a cabo por una persona aislada, sino que requiere la actividad cooperativa de unos y otros.
(196Kb)Finding your path in life
Skoll wants to change the world right now and believes film can help to do that. In less than three years he has made, among others, these films: Syriana; Good Night and Good Luck; Murderball; North Country; Fast Food Nation and An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s documentary about global warming.
10 consejos de Benedicto XVI a la gente joven
Dialogar diariamente con Dios, leer la Biblia, acudir a la Misa del domingo, contar las alegrías y penas a Cristo, dar ejemplo o ser útil a los demás: son algunos de los consejos que el Papa da a los jóvenes.
Ethics in Internet
The Internet can make an enormously valuable contribution to human life. It can foster prosperity and peace, intellectual and aesthetic growth, mutual understanding among peoples and nations on a global scale.
In a New Generation of College Students, Many Opt for the Life Examined
When a fellow student at Rutgers University urged Didi Onejeme to try Philosophy 101 two years ago, Ms. Onejeme, who was a pre-med sophomore, dismissed it as “frou-frou”.
Il gusto del sapere
Non sono oggi pochi coloro che si rendono conto di come il problema fondamentale dell'università, quello che determina, come una parola ormai inflazionata, la sua crisi, non sia essenzialmente un problema tecnico...
La reconversión de la Universidad en Europa.
La Universidad no es una excepción al empeño de una Europa unida. Desde hace años está en marcha el llamado Proceso de Bolonia, con el objetivo de que los países europeos unifiquen sus sistemas universitarios.
L’etica dello sviluppo
Riscoprire un sapere insostituibile per il progresso dell'umanità affinché tutti possano arrichersene.
No basta enseñar a producir, a rendir, a ganar. Lo que importa de verdad es aprender a vivir rectamente
Entrevista al Prelado del Opus Dei y Gran Canciller de la Universidad de Navarra.
La dignidad de la familia
La familia es uno de los instrumentos naturales queridos por Dios para que los hombres cooperen en la Creación.
À propos de la solidarité humaine
La solidarité est le mouvement qui accompagne la perception de l'autre que soi. Elle est caractéristique de la personne et manifeste son indispensable rapport à l'autre, parce qu'elle est déjà présente, d'une certaine manière, dans le rapport fondamental à soi.
Capacità d'ascolto e processo decisionale nei programmi di sviluppo
Esperienze di management nelle attività di una ONG di sviluppo.
The Truth of Christianity
At the end of the second millennium, Christianity finds itself in profound crisis in the very place of its original dissemination, in Europe. It is a crisis caused by doubt of its claim to the truth.
Towards An Open-Minded Science
If scientists abandon metaphysical and spiritual reflection, they will cut themselves off from society
Science and Philosophy in the Context of University Studies
Science as Utilitarian versus Science as an End in Itself; The Basic Assumptions of Science; Science Needs Direction; Science as the Presupposition of Truthfulness; Science and Philosophy.
Science and Culture: Beyond Two Cultures
At the beginning of human history science and culture were inseparable. They were animated by the same questions, those about the meaning of the universe and the meaning of life.
Knowledge Viewed in Relation to Religion
We shall be brought, Gentlemen, today, to the termination of the investigation which I commenced three Discourses back, and which, I was well aware, from its length, if for no other reason, would make demands upon the patience even of indulgent hearers...
Discorso in occasione dell'incontro con i rettori e i docenti delle università europee
L'attuale cambiamento culturale è spesso considerato una "sfida" alla cultura universitaria e al cristianesimo stesso.
Only Love Endures – A Lesson for Busy Men
One of the great surprises men encounter when they retire is how quickly their life’s work is undone behind them, as if they had never existed, had never done what they did. A Polish proverb says, “We pass through life like a knife through water, leaving scarcely a ripple behind us, and then nothing.”
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish
In his Commencement address, Apple and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs urged Stanford graduates to follow their hearts. A pancreatic cancer survivor, he told the Class of '05, "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking."
A Media Strategy for Families
In terms of media, it is a tough time to be a parent. This only means that being a good parent today will involve monitoring more influences than in your grandmother's family.
Christianity and the Poetics of Ordinary Life
In his fine poem "Days," Philip Larkin begins by posing a simple question, and, tellingly, rather than responding directly to it, he adds another query and concludes the poem not with an answer but with a wry observation.
Horizons
John Paul II has frequently called Catholics to a new evangelization, to the renewed mission of the Church in our times. Specifically, since the Jubilee of the year 2000, the Holy Father has reminded us of our Lord's command to the apostles: Duc in altum! Put out into the deep! Launch out towards new goals, new apostolic adventures, in order to bring Christ to every corner of the world and to all activities and environments.
University Life Issues for Reflection & Discussion
We offer here some issues about university life that can be explored through discussion.
La idea de formación
La formación va más allá de la facultad universitaria, del aula de bachillerato o del ciclo formativo. Va más allá del éxito inmediato. Por eso mismo, la tarea del educador trasciende -y mucho- las paredes del aula
La Moralidad Colectiva
El hombre vive en una sociedad, el hombre tiene una vida individual pero articulada con la vida colectiva y entonces la vida moral está condicionada naturalmente por la situación social en que se vive, por el conjunto de usos, de vigencias, de presiones sociales, de modelos, de ejemplos: todo eso influye enormemente
Professionalism & Workplace Savvy
They see work as service to others. They labor toward the betterment of other people, directly or indirectly: clients, customers, employers, colleagues. Thus they’re both task-oriented and people-oriented.
Interview with Paul Swope
An interview to Paul Swope, director of the Caring Foundation and president of LifeNet Services, during the recent University Faculty for Life conference in Toronto.
Josemaría Escrivá, Le Chrétien Et La Cité
Nous ne prétendons pas faire ici, comme le titre de ce travail pourrait le faire penser, une étude philosophique ou théologique de la pensée du bienheureux Josemaría. Nous allons seulement tenter une première analyse de ses références historiques, de sa façon de concevoir l’individu et la société ainsi que des formes d’action temporelle des chréiens que cela comporte.
El fuego de los primeros cristianos
¿Cómo reaccionaron los primeros cristianos ante el mundo que les rodeaba? A veces, aparece la tentación de atribuir la expansión del Evangelio a prodigios y milagros. Sin embargo, la fe fue el prodigio que arrastró a hombres de toda clase, condición y cultura. La fe, y el amor hacia Cristo.
Friends, "friends" and Facebook
Last week, a lady named Sal who uses the social-networking website called Facebook showed a group of older professors (including yours truly) how the system works, what her own site looks like, and answered questions about it...
Cartas a un joven poeta
Estas Cartas a un joven poeta fueron dirigidas por Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) al joven escritor Franz Xaver Kappus, donde revela el ideario del poeta y su concepción del mundo, desde su visión de la vocación y de la inspiración literarias hasta sus meditaciones sobre la soledad inherente a la tarea del creador.
The authentic pleasures. The Screwtape Letters (XIII)
Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963), professor of Medieval and Renaissance English Literature at the University of Cambridge (1954-1963), who was also a prolific writer, reveals his talent and originality in his book, The Screwtape Letters (1961). The work is contains thirty-one letters in which a veteran devil named Screwtape seeks to guide his nephew Wormwood, whom is entrusted with leading a man to hell. In the thirteenth letter, Screwtape reprimands his apprentice because he has allowed the person entrusted to him to enjoy, “two real, positive pleasures:” reading a book that he truly enjoyed and taking a pleasant walk by himself.
The world of youth today: who are they and what do they seek?
I have been asked to present, within a very short time, a profile of today's youth from a sociological and psychological point of view, and to point out how they can be affected by ideological movements and where they stand in relation to the Church. This is a vast and ambitious programme that I shall try to synthesize as much as possible.
Personal Identity And Dystopian Film Worlds
To speak of personal identity and cinematic worlds means to speak of “reference” in fiction and of the reception and personal appropriation –not only intellectual –of that fiction. This study deals with the personal “refiguration” of fictions according to the hermeneutics of Paul Ricoeur, making reference to three films that depict dystopian worlds: Blade Runner, Brazil, and The Truman Show.
The Proper Development of Culture
The word "culture" in its general sense indicates everything whereby man develops and perfects his many bodily and spiritual qualities; he strives by his knowledge and his labor, to bring the world itself under his control. He renders social life more human both in the family and the civic community, through improvement of customs and institutions.
Le élites mediali e le scelte culturali dei media
Siamo abituati ad avere un'immagine del nostro Paese, e più in generale dei Paesi occidentali avanzati, come di società sostanzialmente egualitarie, in cui una democrazia sostanziale è stata raggiunta. In realtà, invece, dal punto di vista culturale -che è quello che interessa di più nell’ottica pastorale e dell’evangelizzazione, perché incide più a fondo sul vissuto delle persone- in nessun'epoca della storia probabilmente si è realizzato uno squilibrio così forte fra poche, pochissime persone, che hanno una grande incidenza sul piano culturale e una grande maggioranza di persone che, sostanzialmente, subiscono questa grande preminenza di pochi...
Storie, personaggi, vita
La nostra cultura è ormai da tre o quattro secoli abituata a distinguere e a separare. La divisione accademica delle discipline, definite per il loro metodo –o, come dicevano gli scolastici, per il loro oggetto formale- ha avuto enormi meriti nell’approfondire e comprendere dettagli anche infinitesimi delle realtà di volta in volta studiate...
Una cristiana en la corte de Hollywood. Entrevista con Barbara Nicolosi
Entrevista a la directora de Act One, un programa destinado a jóvenes que quieren entran en la industria del espectáculo sin renunciar a su identidad cristiana; habla de ese proyecto, de algunas tendencias en el mundo del cine y de la presencia de los cristianos en Hollywood.
G-rated for Gold Mine?
G-rated films are 11 times as profitable as R-rated films, but Hollywood makes 12 times as many R-rated films. What's going on?
Ethics in Communications
Great good and great evil come from the use people make of the media of social communication. Although it typically is said—and we often shall say here—that "media" do this or that, these are not blind forces of nature beyond human control. For even though acts of communicating often do have unintended consequences, nevertheless people choose whether to use the media for good or evil ends, in a good or evil way...
La religione, dimensione essenziale della cultura e fondamento della libertà
La cultura dell'uomo era agli inizi tutta quanta di natura religiosa. Solo assai tardi ha potuto elaborarsene una interamente mondana, isolata dalla grande sintesi. La concezione corrente della cultura e della sua storia vede in ciò senz'altro qualcosa di positivo...
La unidad de la cultura europea. Notas para la definición de la cultura
La salud cultural de Europa requiere dos condiciones: que la cultura de cada país sea única y que las distintas culturas reconozcan la relación que hay entre ellas, de modo que cada una sea susceptible de recibir la influencia de las demás. Y esto es posible porque hay un elemento común en la cultura europea, una interrelación en la historia del pensamiento, los sentimientos y el comportamiento, un intercambio de arte e ideas. (...)
Para qué sirven los filósofos
¿Qué interés pueden tener el Estado y la sociedad por la filosofía? ¿Qué interés puede tener que los fundamentos del orden social se conviertan en objetos de la reflexión crítica Precisamente, el estado moderno no deriva su legitimidad de la verdad de determinadas convicciones, sino de la corrección procedimental de sus mecanismos de decisión.(...)
Collins: Why this scientist believes in God
I am a scientist and a believer, and I find no conflict between those world views. As the director of the Human Genome Project, I have led a consortium of scientists to read out the 3.1 billion letters of the human genome, our own DNA instruction book. As a believer, I see DNA, the information molecule of all living things, as God's language, and the elegance and complexity of our own bodies and the rest of nature as a reflection of God's plan.
Pluralismo superficial
Entrevista a John Haldane es filósofo, profesor en la Universidad de St. Andrew's (Escocia), donde dirige el Centro de Ética, Filosofía y Asuntos Públicos.
Canzoni, Chansons, Canciones
Da circa trent'anni una gigantesca valanga di canzoni sommerge il nostro pianeta. Dobbiamo rallegrarcene, perché un'epoca che canta non può essere tanto malvagia come certe persone "serie", imbronciate e insopportabili, vorrebbero farci credere.
La educación musical según los filósofos griegos
Los griegos atribuían un elevado valor moral a su música. Ella formaba el carácter.
Voz y nostalgias de George Steiner
La deriva cultural de los últimos años ha colocado a George Steiner en una situación privilegiada. Por su prestigio como crítico literario, se ha ganado la atención de los medios culturales, que le han reconocido como "el último sabio" y el "humanista lúcido".
Universidad, Verdad y Libertad
Por utilizar una expresión del mexicano Octavio Paz, Premio Nobel de Literatura, podríamos decir que el clima en el que se mueve la institución universitaria en este comienzo de siglo es el propio de un “tiempo nublado”. Las luces y las sombras se alternan en un panorama cultural donde, por una parte, el saber ha llegado a constituir la mercancía m´s preciada en la llamada sociedad del conocimiento y, por otra, casi nadie parece interesado en investigar la naturaleza íntima de las cosas y ganar verdades firmes acerca de lo real.(...)
Oxford University Commemoration Day
The university of the golden age of benefaction was surely different – a haven for disinterested scholarship, the unworldly fingering over of classical texts and arcane philosophical questions, patient of eccentricity, the object of a benevolence that asked no questions about research output, access, competitive profile and industrial investment.(...)
Università
L'università, come soggetto storico e culturale, non è estranea ai rapporti fra cristianesimo e pensiero scientifico.
Emprendedor y competitivo: ¿ideal o utopía?
Parte de la conferencia pronunciada en la Graduación de la X Promoción del Máster en Dirección de Empresas para ejecutivos, en la Universidad de Piura.
L’idée d’université Selon John Henry Newman
La vie et l’œuvre de John-Henry Newman ont fait l’objet de nombreux et importants travaux. Son tempérament et les circonstances historiques dans lesquelles il vécut expliquent son originalité et l’étendue de son influence. Il fut autant homme de pensée qu’homme d’action. L’auteur du Développement, de l’Assentiment, de l’Apologia révèlent l’historien, le philosophe, le théologien, le poète.(...)
Discurso de Benedicto XVI (Universidad de La Sapienza-Roma)
Discurso preparado para el encuentro con la Universidad de la Roma "La Sapienza"
La Universidad en el pensamiento y en la acción apostólica de Mons. Josemaría Escrivá
La amplísima labor de Mons. Escrivá en el campo de la cultura, manifestada en la creación de universidades y en la inspiración de iniciativas de todo tipo, es un reflejo de su singular aprecio por las profesiones intelectuales, en atención al gran influjo que ejercen en la sociedad.
Essere universitario significa...
Selezione d'interventi dei docenti invitati alle sessioni conclusive dei primi 25 Congressi
Educare e insegnare nell'orizzonte dell'unità del sapere
Porre il problema dell'unità del sapere in prospettiva educativa, può apparire anacronistico o utopico, soprattutto in un'epoca in cui la cultura è sempre più frammentaria.
La contemplación de la belleza
El miedo a que el dardo de la belleza no pueda conducirnos a la verdad, sino que la mentira, la fealdad y lo vulgar sean la verdadera «realidad», ha angustiado a los hombres de todos los tiempos.
Harry Potter and the Joyless Prigs
Amid the reams of journalistic verbiage about how the film version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone broke every box-office record in the history of the universe, I ran across the odd report of public protests by religious types who believe the world's most popular movie to be a tool of Satan(...)
Libres para construir el futuro
Ser libres no es sólo un derecho: comporta una responsabilidad, que debe llevar a los cristianos a implicarse en las cuestiones de la sociedad, contribuyendo con soluciones plurales a los problemas de cada época.
Pasión por la verdad
El mundo necesita "testigos apasionados y coherentes de la verdad". En una ´poca en la que el relativismo ha convencido a muchos de que es imposible conocer la verdad, la pasión por buscarla y transmitirla se ha convertido en una gustosa tarea para los cristianos.
Women's fashion
There can be few words that conjure up as many conflicting ideas and emotions as "fashion". To some it is redolent of excitement and romance, to others it reeks of tyranny and exploitation.
The Notion of Beauty
The notion of beauty affects almost every experience we have. One has only to look at how the marketing profession uses various elements of beauty to sell every product from haute couture to breakfast cereals. That’s because marketers know that we are all innately drawn to beauty(...)
Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism
Last week, a lady named Sal who uses the social-networking website called Facebook showed a group of older professors (including yours truly) how the system works, what her own site looks like, and answered questions about it...
The Ethical Implications of Social Networking Websites
The risks that have been associated with excessive use of these websites.
MySpace's Four Commandments for Safety
Social networking site MySpace has unveiled a new statement on the "Key Principles of Social Networking Site Safety".
Ethical aspects of research in ultrafast communication
In the last decennium one can observe an increasing interest for ethics in a number of fields, like business, medicine, publishing, science and engineering.
Social networking websites - survey
This survey was conducted at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition in January 2007.
La música
La música es como las imágenes: tiene mayor poder de comunicación que las palabras. Hoy casi nadie es consciente del poder de la música sobre el espíritu humano. Los antiguos sí lo fueron. Los griegos, que tenían una música muy primitiva, se veían tan influidos por ella que atribuyeron su origen a los dioses, a las Musas (ahí está el origen de la palabra).(...)
The Mozart Effect
What is this philosopher's stone that can so dramatically change the world? It's music. Or better, Mozart's music, or so says Don Campbell in his best-selling The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit (Avon Books, 1997).
Notes From The Hip-Hop Underground
What does rap offer young people? Freedom from feelings.
J. S. Bach in Japan
Perhaps Bach, transcending cultural barriers, has converted more Japanese than any of us dares to imagine.